


Winter in Hiding

by MarvelousMind



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-06
Updated: 2017-07-06
Packaged: 2018-11-28 16:18:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,632
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11421612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MarvelousMind/pseuds/MarvelousMind
Summary: Tony isn’t the only descendant of the geniuses behind the super soldier program to be targeted by Hydra for their talent. After adapting to generations of Hydra captivity, Lillian has finally been assigned to stabilize the subject of her family’s legacy project, The Soldier. If she can manage not to condemn them both in the process.





	Winter in Hiding

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry this isn't an update to my other works, but the good news is I'm writing again! I am working on updating those, but I had to get this one down on paper first.

An unusual number of lab coats lined up expectantly, an air of anticipation filling the usually cynical and sterile environment, while still more paced around habitually monitoring essential equipment. Today’s increase in their ranks was accompanied by an increase in guards, who stood around the edges of the room, surveying the pool of white coats somewhat contemptuously.

One leaned in to counsel his newly assigned shift member. “She’s nice that one, don’t let her use it to get under your skin. Got it?” he indicated a white lab coat clad woman with her hair braided up in an intricate but professional arrangement. The rest of her was equally beautiful without calling too much attention to herself, except for her heels. Her stilettos were at radical odds with the stodgy comfort footwear her all male coworkers shod themselves in.

After pausing a moment to admire her, the new soldier asked “What do you mean?”

“I mean in this lab she gives the orders, but outside of this lab she falls under working prisoner protocols. Same as the old man there.” He waved the barrel of his gun in the general direction of a stooped man who looked far too old to be in this high tech environment.

A red alarm light began to flash on a control panel monitored by a younger man in a white lab coat. Just as he was beginning to panic the old man in question calmly leaned in around him and clicked a few buttons. The lights went green again and his younger coworker looked at him in awed relief, receiving a kind smile and nod from the elderly gentlemen. On closer inspection his aged eyes bore a noticeable resemblance to the woman previously under their scrutiny.

“They’re not part of Hydra?” the guard asked.

The first guard’s voice lowered bitterly as his eyes flashed around the room “Only as long as it keeps ‘em in one piece.”

The new guard contemplated her again for a moment before a wry smirk twisted his lips “gave you the cold shoulder, eh?”

The soldier on his second year of lab detail took a deeply annoyed breath that was confirmation in and of itself, but he never uttered his retort, using the breath instead to keep his chest out at attention. He looked straight ahead as a shift in the posture of all present announced the entrance of someone important.

The new arrival exuded a calm familiarity at odds with the tension in the room, he smiled at some of them like he considered them family, but he walked with the confidant air of a man who is fully aware he owns the room with his presence. 

The receiving line of white coats greeted him nervously and he made polite and brief acknowledgments, but it was clear he had a destination other than them in mind. Unfortunately this went unnoticed by the woman and elderly gentlemen as they were now deep in hushed conversation while they made a show of noting data on her clipboard.

“On your best behavior, Lillian. This isn’t one of those times when you can play your little technological surveillance evasion games Fjodor taught you. They’re calling it an inspection but he’ll be coming to see you personally and he’ll see right through any insincerity on your part.” He paused and adjusted his lapels, his tone taking on a contemptuous note “They’re all crowing that it’s a historic occasion.”

She grunted in aggravation. “If one more person says that to me... Why would anyone celebrate generations of coercion? “

Her grandfather further lowered his voice in warning “I think you mean subjugation, and easy darling, you know how they like to pat themselves on the back. “

His fidgeting was contagious and she smoothed her pockets in a nervous gesture before adding irritatedly “It’s not as if I haven’t met Pierce before. “

From the corner of her eye she caught the man of the hour smiling wolfishly from behind her, having escaped the formalities and apparently indulged in a moment of eavesdropping.

His persuasively perfect voice joined in “Yes but now you’re working on this project as a fourth generation pioneer. It’s a historic occasion for Hydra.” He smiled grandly and squeezed her elbow in greeting. She mentally evaluated the amount of pressure his hand was exerting in an attempt to discern how much he’d overheard. His grip was possessively firm but not enough to bruise.

The smile plastered on her grandfather’s face was for Pierce’s benefit but she knew it for the frantic warning it was when his eyes flitted quickly from her to Pierce. A silent reminder that they were always watched and to take more care.

Since her childhood she’d seen her grandfather kick himself for little slips only a handful of times. She’d finally managed to reach The Soldier’s inner circle and already she was potentially on the wrong foot.

Pierce greeted her grandfather so warmly any onlooker would have thought it was a reunion of old friends, but long acquaintance had taught her and her grandfather that there was a ruthlessness lurking beneath the congenial surface of the man. Amiable sincerity was Pierce’s special brand of manipulation.

His hand remained on her arm, but it was a liberty she was familiar with him taking and she held her composure, a mix of professionalism and submissiveness with a little naivety thrown in that always kept her in his good graces. The humorous twinkle in his eye told her he’d heard her kvetching about ‘meeting’ him before this forced display, but nothing more.

“Well, let’s get the pomp and circumstance out of the way so we can get down to business” Pierce smiled affably and shifted his hand to the small of her back as he escorted her toward the entrance of the subject’s holding area. Her sense of anticipation on finally being permitted access to The Soldier got the better of her and she had to be prompted by Pierce’s fingers pressing into her waist to remember to stop in the doorway and turn with him to face the rest of the anxiously observant room for a few words of inspiration.

He smiled at her indulgently, mistaking her tunnel vision for enthusiasm, just as she’d always disguised it to be “As you all know, Dr. Markov here is an impressive fourth generation in a line of remarkable scientists that have helped further Hydra’s research immensely. Our organization has had high hopes for her since she was a little girl”.

A chorus of proud chuckles ensued and Pierce pulled her a little tighter against his side. She suppressed a shudder and smiled shyly around the room instead.

Pierce warmed to his subject “The great granddaughter of Josef Reinstein is going to help us sort out some unforeseen issues with her great grandad’s legacy. While her grandfather bridged his father’s serum research with cryopreservation improvements, and her father addressed the detrimental effects of cryotolerance by adapting a vitrification process for our Asset, Dr. Markov is going to help us further our cause by doing away with her family’s legacy of short term cryo solutions and bringing it all back to the vision of her great grandfather. Her research methods may allow us to keep him stable and available for immediate and regular deployment over longer periods without mental deterioration”.

There was a notable sigh of relief at this prospect and a smattering of applause. The soldier was commonly acknowledged to be a highly dangerous assignment among the ranks of their organization. Lillian continued to smile, but it did not reach her eyes as she held her grandfather’s stoic gaze throughout Pierce’s mention of their family. It was the only acknowledgment of their loss they allowed themselves.

Pierce shifted from grandstanding to a more serious tone “Hydra has never been closer to achieving its goals then we will be in the next few years, and with his continual help we will reach those objectives much quicker. This family has a very high rate of success with this program, a special touch no other scientist with Hydra has been able to compete with in nearly eighty years. They are every bit as much of an asset to us as the soldier is”. He gestured behind him at the corridor where the soldier was currently contained.

Lily forced a touch of pride she did not feel to show. She didn’t need Pierce to remind her that she was as much a prisoner of war as the soldier was. His cryostasis had kept him in Hydra’s possession for over 70 years, hers was a legacy of loss going back four generations.

Pierce’s smile faded before he continued, making marked eye contact with many of those he addressed “I believe you are all aware that I am particularly vested in the outcome of this project, and I expect you all to provide Dr. Markov with as much assistance, and respect, as if she were carrying out direct orders from myself at all times”.

Lillian almost couldn’t stifle the sound that rose up in her throat at this last bit of hypocrisy, both in amazement at her good fortune and disgust at the depth of his ability for duplicity. The steely narrowing of her grandfather’s eyes kept her silent before she turned to acknowledge Pierce’s gracious exhibition with her own display of naïve gratitude by grasping his hand to shake it. Pierce covered her fingers with his own, subtly changing the gesture from a handshake to something more intimate.

Lily forced herself not to withdraw her hand until he let go. When he did it was only to place his hand at the small of her back again and turn them both toward the corridor, ending his address to the lab.

This facility wasn’t as depressing as the rusting walls and aging tech in the Siberian facility, but it wasn’t far off. The long curving concrete hallway that lead down to the soldier’s cell was wide enough to drive a dump truck through and seemed more suited to a parking garage than a lab. Orange sodium-vapor lamps clicked on slowly at intervals of their progress. Windows and doors were set in the concrete wall to their right at regular intervals. Some were weapons and equipment storage for the asset’s deployment, others revealed guards behind the glass. The guarded areas were heavily fortified and intended to be a stopping point if the alarms went off or the asset left containment without authorization. All it took was a nod from Pierce to continue past the checkpoints without them even having to break stride.

The sound of her heels seemed obnoxiously loud in her ears as it echoed back at them. From the corner of her eye she could see Pierce glancing down to admire them and following the line of her legs until they disappeared beneath her lab coat. “I see you took our conversation about sensible lab PPE seriously”. 

It was spoken with sarcasm but she knew it was his way of hinting he was pleased. Their ‘conversation’ had really just been him mentioning how little pride women in the lab seemed to take in their appearance, specifically with their hair slicked into tight buns, their unadorned faces drained of all color by the bright lighting, and their clunky safe and sensible shoes. She smiled sweetly at him in response as they continued walking, her lips carefully painted with stain to keep them from looking washed-out under the lab’s fluorescent lighting, as requested.

The cell was deep inside the facility and progress down to it seemed to be taking forever when it required her to remain alone in Pierce’s presence for so long, and not just because she knew he was hesitating to say something to her. She courted his affection warily, through innocent innuendo and never openly, recognizing it for the double edged sword it was. Her allure kept him blind to true suspicion and opened doors for her but there was always a chance she could get trapped alone with him behind closed ones.

Finally they came to a door that bore more resemblance to a bank vault than it did to the previous doors along the corridor, so heavily reinforced it didn’t even require a sentry. Beside it ran a long narrow observation window made of thick blast proof glass. Lily frowned at it “That’s a security risk. Was it necessary?”

Pierce held a biometric security badge up to a panel beside the lock that changed from red to green “It is if I read your procedural summary correctly. I don’t want to depend strictly on cameras if you’re in there alone with him and your safety comes into question”.

Lily squeezed her eyes shut at the reminder of the danger she was placing herself in. Unbidden childhood memories came, of five vicious Soldiers rendering death all around them with little effort. It wasn’t the first time they’d turned on those around them but it was Hydra’s last attempt to control them. They had appeared stable, until suddenly they weren’t. She could still hear the battle that raged beyond the concrete walls to subdue them back into cryostasis. The sound of the lock disengaging snapped the distraction from her mind.

Steel cylinders the size of Lily’s arm withdrew from the metal door paneling into the thick reinforced walls, releasing the door to swing open on its hinge.

Pierce chose this moment to finally speak up. “Lillian...” She was so eager for her first chance to glimpse the soldier in person, she was hardly listening to Pierce, but his next words stopped her in her tracks “… about your father”.

She’d been somewhat prepared for him to say something of this ilk in the hall, now that they were about to enter the room it was a distraction that took her by surprise. She tried to rein in her emotions and focus on smiling benignly so she wouldn’t slip up and betray herself.

He took her silence as an invitation to continue “I wanted to apologize to you for the way Colonel Karpov handled your family, your father in particular… Yours’ and your grandfather’s loyalty means a great deal to us and I’d like to make it clear that the way it was handled… was not on my orders.” He paused before adding suggestively “I’d like to be sure that never happens to your family again”.

Lillian felt her smile turn brittle at his mention of her father. She reached out and laid her fingers over the back of Pierce’s hand, giving it an intimate squeeze. His gaze moved from her eyes down to her fingers, giving her time to collect herself and hide her emotions. She softly forced out the only response she could give him. A phrase long practiced to achieve an imitation of unquestionable sincerity “Hail Hydra”.

Hoping she’d convinced him his veiled threat was so unnecessary it had gone right over her head, she switched back to the role of eager to impress ingénue and withdrew her hand to pull the door open. It began to swing outward forcing them to move, effectively ending the moment by bringing another person into it.

Said person sat half dazed and seemingly oblivious against the far wall of his cell. He was surrounded by three men with short barreled machine guns aimed directly at him. Their combat gear and hyper alert vigilance was strikingly at odds with the aloof disinterest of the unarmed barefoot man slumping forward on the cot. He’d been removed from his cryo gear and dressed in Hydra’s exercise livery, black sweat pants and a thin dark t-shirt that strained around his biceps, the bright silver of his prosthetic metal arm reflecting the lights in the room, even the small green indicator glows from the bevy of security and IR cameras.

He glared at his arbitrarily chosen focus point, deliberately oblivious to the novelty of the situation as she and Pierce entered.

Pierce addressed him without preamble “I’d like you to meet someone” he deliberately pitched his voice as if he were an old friend. The soldier raised his head and looked up at him with robotically cold blue focus through the tangled curtain of brown hair that had fallen forward over his face.

Lillian understood now why it wasn’t just the intelligence community, but also the lab, that referred to him as a ghost. She’d seen many POW’s but this one had no recognition, no life behind his eyes. Her heart was so heavy for a moment she didn’t trust herself to speak.

Pierce watched her for a moment as she regarded the soldier, then pocketed his hands and smirked as he rocked back onto the balls of his feet in that affable manner of his that disarmed others “He’ll be needed soon. We’re leaving it to you to decide how to prep him, for now. I know scientists can become… possessive about anyone tampering with their subjects and affecting their results…”

In an almost automatic response to his slight change of mood an alarm bell went off in her brain telling her she’d done something to arouse a hint of suspicion and he was testing her. She wiped the sympathetic expression off her face and went coldly clinical “I just want to avoid wiping him whenever possible. My research indicates it interferes even with the Faustus method, and I can’t usher in a more stable technique if…”

He interrupted in anticipation of her next words “The memory suppression is necessary.”

“It WAS necessary, it won’t be anymore.” she corrected him, a risk unless he believed her impertinence came from a passion for the project’s success “the techniques your new lead scientist proposed would not only have ended in antiretrograde amnesia, it would have damaged his hippocampus…”

Pierce cut in, quoting from memory “Damaging his spatial memory, rendering his training useless and even removing his ability to deliver mission reports. Yes, you made that very clear in your counter proposal. Which is why you’re here”.

Pierce regarded the soldier a moment “It’s important to me that this succeeds. He’s an invaluable resource, and specifically an asset we cannot afford to do without right now. I can’t promise you we won’t wipe him if it becomes necessary.”

Lily turned to face down Pierce with every ounce of confidence she could muster “I can enforce the retrograde amnesia without the mind wipe machines and stabilize him without the cryo. If my technique works the serum research would be worth pursuing again and the Winter Soldier program could be resumed.”

Pierce smirked, but she knew she had him. “If I can stabilize him we might even be able to use what we learn to bring the Winter Soldiers in Siberia to yoke”.

Pierce’s smirk vanished, his expression betraying him and exposing his desire for such an outcome. It was a rare sight. He leaned down to speak to the ghost seated before them “Soldier this is doc…

Lily cut him off with a grunted reminder, her eyes flaring briefly and prompting him to remember she didn’t want to be introduced as a doctor for this particular subject.

… Lillian” Pierce corrected himself “She’s here to help us with our great work. Here to help you focus better on doing your part”.

He’d spoken almost cajolingly to the man staring right through him, but his voice changed to unquestionable authority as he issued orders “You will not harm or injure her in any way and you will follow her orders… unless they contradict with mine”.

Surprise made Lily’s eyes snap from the man on the cot to Pierce before she heard her grandfather’s voice in the back of her mind, reminding her that her face was an open book that would get her killed if she didn’t learn to keep up her mask. She lowered her eyes demurely.

Satisfied, Pierce turned to leave. Lily indicated the guards “you can go too”. They hesitated and Pierce turned in the doorway, intrigued more then angered as he waited to hear her reasoning. “If I’m going to make any progress he needs to trust me, just like you need to trust me. You know I’m right, you’ve worked decades to make the progress with him that you have, I don’t have that kind of time. I need to build a working association with him now. You can see me right there on the cameras the whole time, there are a dozen guard stations nearby. And you have your window” she gestured towards the glass.

Pierce mulled it over a moment and nodded to the guards. As they left Lily added “One more thing” and Pierce leaned against the doorframe with an amused smile prompting her to continue “The reprogramming is based in part on audio cues. Anyone listening could be affected.”

Pierce’s smile faded as he thought of the repercussions that could create. Lily held up a small audio scrambling device. “When I am in this room I’m placing this, as a precaution, on the intercom to prevent the guards from falling into a suggestive state, or worse.”

Pierce hesitated and she plowed on “Time restraints have made this is a very fluid situation Mr. Secretary, I need to be able to think and react on my feet at a moment’s notice if this endeavor is to succeed in time to assist your pet project. If he is in a suggestive state and I have to interrupt the moment to apply this measure” she paused to emphasize her point “it would tip him off to enter a dissociative state as dependably as Pavlov's bell affects a dog and I won’t get anywhere with him”.

She knew she was asking too much and silently cheered inside when she saw the moment he decided to trust her. He nodded and headed for the door, but hesitated again “You aren’t planning on removing the Faustus measures, are you?” he turned in the doorway, his eyes expressing true worry to her for the first time “Because if that’s what you intend we’ll scrap this whole…”

It wasn’t hard to answer sincerely, since her answer was complete truth “Mr. Secretary, I wouldn’t begin to know how to remove the Faustus programming, and even if I could, I am fully aware that without it I, and everyone else in this building, would not survive the fallout”.

She saw the reassurance in his eyes as her words reminded him she had a great deal more to lose here then her freedom if she failed.

Pierce gave her a curt nod “do what you need to do” and left with the guards as the door sealed.

Lily didn’t bother with the scrambler, if the next moments made people watching the tape inexplicably sleepy, so much the better.

She tuned back to the soldier, her senses screaming that there were a thousand ways he could kill her without effort and there was nothing she could do about it. She focused instead on not letting her movements give off the impression of fear as she approached him.

She cautiously knelt down before him, so close her knees were between his feet and his face was inches from hers. She hadn’t expected him to be so handsome beneath that curtain of hair and scruff. The only time she’d seen him up close he’d been in cryo, his face obscured by his hair and protective gear.

She whispered up at him “There’s so much I want to tell you, but it’s going to take some time before I can make that happen. Please trust me until then” louder for the intercom she added “I want to help you”.

She whispered again, more to herself then him “I bet you’ve heard that loads of times from Hydra” as he continued to look through her. 

She took a shaky breath and slowly lifted her hands to his face, running her fingertips over his chiseled cheeks and up to pressure points on his forehead. She reached around to the back of his neck and shoulders, continuing to work pressure points, her face so close to his that his breath warmed her cheek. When she reached his ears a muscle in his jaw clenched and she nearly backed away, but it only lasted a moment and suddenly all his muscles finally began relaxing.

His eyes finally stopped looking through her, and instead vaguely expressed wary confusion at what she was doing to him, but he also ever so slightly began to lean into her touch. She focused on effusing a sense of calm and a hypnotic tone “I want you to lay down and sleep for the next 8 hours” she added quietly “Stay in the same position, no big movements” before raising her voice for the audio again. “Do you understand?”

It was more of an order than hypnosis, but she knew she had to make it look good for the cameras. He hesitated a moment before giving her unusual request a slight nod and allowing himself to drop onto his side on the cot, drawing up his feet and curling into a fetal position that made her heart ache as she left the cell. She spontaneously turned back and drew the standard issue brown military blanket over him. Mentally adding it to the list of props she would have to remember.

The door to the soldier’s room was surprisingly quiet as it closed behind her. Pierce was still waiting in the hall to walk her back. “That was quick. A good sleep before the real work begins. Makes sense. Impress me with this Lillian, and I have big plans for you”.

All she could think about was the lost and helpless look in the soldiers blue eyes as he lay down. She knew that feeling, knew it in her soul. She answered almost robotically “Thank you sir. I have no doubt I will impress you”.

Pierce smiled proudly and added “Just think, one day your children’s children will be here pioneering new frontiers for us.” He didn’t notice Lily’s gait hitch and added “Hail Hydra” before he quickened his step, his mind already off to his next important meeting. He didn’t notice her face drain of all color before she ducked into the nearest restroom.

She was usually alone in the ladies rooms here, this high risk wing had always been a boys club. She breathed deeply while she pretended to check her hair in the mirror, but when she met her eyes in her reflection she felt the tears burning. Pierce’s words echoed in her head. If she ever had children they too would belong to Hydra, the nightmare would never end. She quietly entered the last stall and managed to bolt the door just before her legs gave out and she found herself quietly weeping on her knees.

The next morning she came in early and headed straight for the security office that held the ‘taped’ footage of his cell. This internal security footage was not considered a high security risk and was easy to get to with the maintenance badge her ex-boyfriend had inadvertently provided her. She’d already used it to decommission the camera that monitored this area so she wouldn’t be seen going in and out.

She was relieved to find the soldier on the screen lying just as she’d left him and a fast rewind of the recording showed he’d done exactly as she’d told him to, hardly moving at all. In a few short minutes she had the last 8 hours of footage on a usb drive in her pocket and was heading to his cell for their first session, with a fresh file ready to capture and upload the upcoming recording to her.


End file.
